Fav L.A. Bars

Dive Bar: Bar ONE Beer & Wine Parlour (Valley Village)

Bar One is a step up from your typical dive bar, but still has the same vibe. Don’t come expecting mixed drinks as they only serve beer and wine. Their exceptional happy hour is nightly til 9pm ($2 PBRs, $4 craft beer, $1 off taps/wine and $4 sangria). Every night has an additional event or special, my favorite being Mystery Beer Mondays, which is exactly what it sounds like. Don’t ask your bartender what you’re drinking, because he won’t tell you. Website || Yelp

Hang Out: The Cat & Fiddle (Hollywood)

The Cat & Fiddle’s massive outdoor patio makes for great place to hang out with friends any night of the week. It’s rarely crowded, so tables are always available. Their food is mediocre English-pub style, and drinks, while not mind-blowing, are cheap. But the bar has a cool vibe, and their Movie Monday and Trivia Nights make for a fun spontaneous outing. Website || Yelp

Overpriced Drinks: The Library (Hollywood)

The Library is on the second floor of the Redbury hotel at Hollywood and Vine and is a sister to Cleo on the first floor. It’s super swanky with a huge outdoor patio and is crawling with fancy couples dressed up for a night out on the town. The drink menu (which is also available at Cleo) is superb — try the whisky-based Honey Citrus Sidecar. At $14 a pop, it’s not somewhere you’ll want to hang out on the regular, but it’s great for a special occasion or one of those “fuck it!” nights where money is no object. Website || Yelp

Beer Selection: Mohawk Bend (Echo Park)

Mohawk Bend is cool bar-meets-vegan-friendly-meets-beer-lovers-paradise. The restaurant only uses California sourced ingredients. Many menu items are vegan or vegetarian friendly and they taste great no matter what your dietary preference (their buffalo cauliflower are the bomb.com). Mohawk Bend has over 70 beers on tap and is co-owned by local beer entrepreneur Tony Yanow, who co-owns Golden Road Brewery and Tony’s Dart’s Away in Burbank (so their beer selection is in good hands). Website || Yelp

Whiskey Bar: Seven Grand (Downtown)

Seven Grand has insanely great whisky sours. Go. Get one. You won’t be disappointed. They also feature 375 whisky selections. So when you order your whisky sour, have one in mind. The bar feels like a long forgotten college pool hall—and it’s awesome. Not to be confused with Seven Lounge down the block, which is a douchy night club. Website || Yelp